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"I'll be sitting in the same position by 2027," Starmer remarked, joking that if the discussion was successful, he might invite the interviewer into his official residence for a follow-up talk next year.

For a PM, there's never any downtime for leaders. Shortly before our chat started, the PM had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to decipher exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his close ally, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our interview, which was considerably lengthier than usual, had ended, Maduro had been charged in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

With the new year begins, the Prime Minister appears to have had a degree of a refresh. Perhaps even just a little relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This appeared to have put him in better spirits than at the sluggish conclusion of 2025, a awful political year for him.

Yet, are he and his colleagues kidding themselves if they reckon his standing are set to turn around?

Internal Doubts

The harsh reality for the PM is that a significant number of his party members think he's ineffective at his job. Several of them would sooner take a risk and oust him this year.

However Starmer was rejecting the idea when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he stated he'd be "judged at the poll", insisting no one would strip his term from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to change its leader.

"We are in the struggle of our times and I aim to guide the party," he said.

The Spring Test

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised long before then – in a major set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to contend, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

Accurate – to some extent. But even though he may be reluctant to admit it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no situation under which he would step down, even if a his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, should those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He tried to account for his low poll ratings by saying the voters was reasonably eager for things to improve. He tried to persuade the interviewer, and the public, that this year would be distinct.

The economic situation would improve notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when policies the administration put in place during their initial turbulent year began to show results.

• He pledged to shut asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't put a new date on that.
• He said too, with the caveat that it was not a certainty, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western partners were now talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

His central point is that in 2026 the country will "see an improvement".

Political Challenges

The PM may have communicated with more energy than observed from him for a some time – calmer, perhaps, with more time to talk.

But despite encountering demands from many directions for a more decisive approach, with much more political clarity, more vigour, more pace and more urgency, his arguments were repeated ones.

Given that he is in this much political peril, should he consider a different script?

No government, and especially not one that has been unpopular for many months, has everything its as planned.

Sir Keir's problems are not only because government is difficult, but because he and his team have made mistakes, including in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister expressed regret that he was sorry for saying he was "happy" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an outcry when past remarks he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Sir Keir attributed it to "procedures" for not catching what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is facing clear political risks as the year gets going. His alliance with the US president takes on a new complication after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over many years, the idea he would be comfortable with these events seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "lifelong champion of international law" but we "just haven't got the complete details at the moment".

Opponents demanded condemn it before we spoke. And the government is expected to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

And there has always been simmering tension in the Labour ranks to revisit some of the consequences of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's doing that, but his new firmer commitment to integrate further with the single market – the giant economic European market – will probably provoke howls that he is going back on his pledge never to try to undo the results that stemmed from Brexit.

A move to align with more of the single market will delight a faction on his side of the party, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to